Mayor Bell responds to dispute over Shuttlesworth funeral bill

The city of Birmingham hopes to resolve the dispute over the $20,000 outstanding bill from the funeral of Civil Rights icon Fred Shuttlesworth, Jr. soon.

In 2011 the Birmingham city council approved $20,000 for the Shuttlesworth Foundation to make Shuttlesworth's eventual burial site part of the city's Civil Rights Trail.

The foundation's president says that $20,000 was also to cover three days of high-profile events to remember the civil rights leader. The bill out has been outstanding for more than a year.

Birmingham's city attorney contends the money was not to go to the funeral expenses. Today Mayor William hoped to resolve the matter quickly.

"We are in the process of getting documentation. We asked that all along we asked them to submit invoices from the foundation as well as the documentation on the foundation itself. Soon as we get that, that will be resolved," Bell said.

Bell says Shuttlesworth's legacy is important to Birmingham and the city will continue to support his legacy.

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